Yesterday I spoke at the funeral of Jean Gouge Burleson. She was a good friend of mine, an elderly woman who will surely be missed by many. I used Psalm 90:10 as an opening text:

The days of our lives are seventy years. And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

I recently went to Google and searched out the average lifespan of human beings. According to a United Nations list that was compiled from 2005 to 2010, the world average for a lifespan is 67 years, 2 months. It’s 65 years exactly for men, and 69 years, 5 months for women.

Of course, that’s taking the entire world into account. The fact is, the average lifespan in many countries is much higher than the world average. For example, the people of Japan top the list with an average life expectancy of 82 years, 6 months. As for the United States, it ranks a respectable 36th on the list. American males live an average of 75 years, 6 months. American females live an average of 80 years, 8 months. (So hang in there ladies, you’re winning.)

At any rate, it’s plain to see that the Bible isn’t hopelessly outdated or irrelevant in what it says about the average lifespan. Even with all the medical advancements the world has seen in the thousands of years since Moses wrote Psalm 90, humans still typically live in the ballpark of 70 and 80 years. I mentioned this yesterday in my remarks about Jean. She died at 76.

Of course, 70 or 80 years is just a general guideline. Some people live to see 100, but others die at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, or 60. So the question is not, “How old will I be when I die?”, but rather, “How will I live the days I have left?” My advice is to live them all out, full bore, no-holds-barred for Jesus Christ. That way you’ll be able to “fly away” with no regrets.